propel
verbCA, US, UK /pɹəˈpɛl/ · AU, NZ /pɹəˈpel/
Etymology From Middle English propellen (“drive out, expel”), from Latin propellō, from pro- (“forward”) and pellō (“to push, to move”).
1
To provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive or push forward.
- When it had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter V, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:
- This tunnel assumed some measure of importance during the second world war, when it was used nightly as an air raid shelter for multiple unit electric trains which were propelled over the branch by a steam engine.1952 December, R. C. Riley, “By Rail to Kemp Town”, in Railway Magazine, page 836:
1 more example
- Primary mass relays can propel ships thousands of light years, often from one spiral arm of the galaxy to another.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Mass Relays Codex entry:
2
Figuratively To provide an impetus for nonphysical change; to cause to arrive to a certain situation or result.
- I can discern your nature and see that even without any arguments (logoi) from me it will propel you to what you say you are drawn towards,2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 265e:
- Black women helped propel Harris and president-elect Joe Biden to victory by elevating turnout in places like Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.2020 November 7, Chelsea Janes, “Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, elected nation’s first female vice president”, in Washington Post:
- Derived terms
- nonpropelled, propellable, propellant, propellent, propeller, propelling pencil, propelment, repropel, self-propelled, self-propelling, unpropelled
- Related terms
- propulsion